Never Say Never
by Mrs. Hotchner-Wolfe
Summary: When a new detective arrives at MDPD with a secret, She causes a stir, especially with Ryan Wolfe. Rated for future reference to Adult themes
1. The Beginning

If there was one thing Quinn Harris wasn't used to, it was heat. Her mother was right: moving to Miami was a mistake. Growing up in Boston meant cold weather. She didn't think it was appropriate to wear shorts to a crime scene, so settled for brown linen trousers and a vest top. Her second week working as a detective for MDPD and she was already getting the hang of how to handle the ropes: the media, veterans, CSIs. It didn't help that there were more male detectives than female. They treated her like a maid. But she marked her presence as a detective when she successfully tracked down a drug cartel and dismantling the organisation.

She rolled up the windows of the car and prepared herself for the Miami humidity. Locking her car, she surveyed the crime scene. CSI were already there. And from the look of the police officers' standing around outside, it wasn't a pretty crime scene.

She flashed her badge to the officer, signed the sign-in pad with her name and position and made her way into the house. It was huge. She stopped a passing officer and asked for information about the case: the Holdens, a wealthy family from Italy, were found dead in their beds. Four children and the parents. They were a nice family, very friendly, very charitable. Quinn smiled thanks to the officer and made her way up the stairs. She could hear Horatio Caine discussing something with a CSI. They appeared at the end of the long hallway when she reached the first floor landing.

Walter Simmons smiled over at her. "Detective!" Horatio Caine only threw her a quick glance.

"Harris," Eric Delko greeted.

"Officers," Quinn greeted. Out of the few people she had met so far, Walter was the nicest, sweetest person. He was such an optimistic person and his optimism was infectious.

She flashed a big grin down his way and reached the group. "Lieutenant. Who called it in?"

"Neighbours. Heard the gunshots at five this morning. Called 911. The officers found the family." Horatio looked up. Quinn was walking into one of the rooms.

"I'll talk to the neighbours," she said quietly. She slipped on her gloves and picked up a school photograph in the little girls room. "How many secrets do you think we'll find during the investigation?"

"Only one way to find out."

Quinn snapped off her glove and made her way downstairs. On her way she heard Horatio say, "Call everyone. It's all hands on deck.

* * *

After talking to the neighbours, Quinn found out that the family threw a birthday party for their three year old daughter yesterday. They catered for breakfast, lunch and dinner for over 100 guests. The party went on until late, the families let their children loose in the play room while the adults drank, talked, and danced. Things quietened down at about twelve and the last car left at about 1. Four hours later, she heard the six gunshots.

Quinn nodded. "Okay, thank you."

* * *

Back at PD, while Quinn sat at her computer, waiting for it to spit out information, Frank Tripp walked up and took the seat behind her.

"Hey, Harris."

Quinn pulled her medium length brunette hair back with her hands and let it go, letting it fall down her back. "Frank, what can I do for you?"

"Is this case not a bit strange to you?"

"How do you mean?"

"There was security in the place like nobody's business. Nice people… Why would something like this happen?"

"Professional or personal opinion?"

"You are the expert."

Quinn stood up, walked to Frank's desk and leaned on it. She smiled. The one thing she was proud of was her degree in criminology. "I think this party they hosted gave the perpetrator plenty of opportunity. I mean, seriously, over a hundred guests?"

"What does the profile tell you?"

"Are you teasing me or are you being genuine?"

"I genuinely want to know, thank you very much."

"I just didn't think you believed in this stuff… I think he's wealthy because how else would he have gained access to the house. Mid thirties.- Would you like my personal opinion?"

"Alright…"

"I think it was the father."

"They seemed to be a happy family."

"You never know what secrets people have." Quinn reached over and grabbed the sheet of paper that shot out from the computer. She scanned through it quickly. Then stopped. "Oh my god."

"What is it?"

"They found six bodies: the parents and four kids."

"Yeah?"

"The Holdens had five children."


	2. Begging

When Quinn walked into the office, Horatio was talking to a blonde woman. "We have a missing child."

"Calleigh Duquesne, Detective Quinn Harris."

Quinn glanced at Calleigh. "Hi." She turned back to Horatio. "How did we miss this?"

"There were only four children in any of the photographs."

"Well, hospital records from Tampa say that Mrs. Holden arrived six months into her pregnancy with contraction, there were complications but both mother and daughter survived."

"Calleigh, can you go down to the Morgue and see if Tom knows which child survived?" Calleigh left the room.

"I have officers surrounding the crime scene looking for the child."

"Good, we don't want to lose any time."

* * *

Quinn decided to take the stairs and get some fresh air, before trying to solve this hell. A million miles away, she walked straight into someone. "Sorry," she muttered, attention coming back to her slowly. Pulling herself together, she looked up. Her smile fell. She grabbed the railing for support. "Ryan," she breathed.

"Quinn?" Ryan Wolfe was shaking his head in disbelief.

"Detective Harris." Quinn looked down to the officer who called her. "We found the kid."

"Excuse me," Quinn said already hurrying down the stairs.

* * *

Quinn rushed out of the car and ran over to the ambulance where a little girl was being checked out. The paramedic left them to it. "Hey, sweetheart. I'm Quinn. What's your name?"

"Sophie." The paramedic came back, a bag full of bloodied clothes held out to Quinn.

"Thank you." Quinn took the bag and handed it to an office. "Get that to CSI." She turned her attention back to the child. "Sophie, I'm a police officer. Will you come with me to my work place so that we can find out what happened to your family?"

"Will the bad man hurt me?"

"I won't let that happen. Come on."

* * *

Quinn looked down at the drawing. "That's beautiful." Horatio Caine walked into the room. "Sophie, this nice man works with me. He just wants to ask you a few more questions. Just tell him what you told me ok?" Sophie nodded. "I'll be right out…" She pointed out to reception. She was shaken when she saw Ryan leaning against reception with Walter and someone she hadn't met yet. "…there."

She walked out to the small group. "How's the kid doing?" the woman asked.

"Ok, considering." Quinn extended her hand. "Quinn Harris."

"Natalia Boa Vista."

"I don't even get a hello?" Quinn looked over at Ryan. He was staring at the floor, a smile creeping onto his face. He looked up at her.

Despite everything that happened in the past, Ryan would never stop being Ryan. She smiled. "No hello. You get a hug though."

"How've you been?"

"Good." Quinn looked at his arms, leading behind to her back and Ryan immediately dropped them.

"We're gonna go…" Natalia looked at Walter. "Find Calleigh."

Quinn walked away from the reception desk and leaned against the wall. "You look good."

"So do you." He walked up to her and stared at her. "You haven't changed much."

Quinn giggled, stepped forward and fixed his tie. "You cut your hair. Look at you. You look so… sophisticated."

There was silence for about a minute. "This is strange."

"What?"

"Seeing you. It's just bizarre. I haven't seen you in… ten years?"

Quinn's face darkened. "Please don't…"

"What?"

"Bring up the past." She moved closer to him and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I left Boston to get away from it. Please?"

"I haven't told anyone in ten years… I wasn't going to start now."

"Am I interrupting something?" Horatio came up behind them.

"No, nothing. Did we get anything new?" Quinn asked.

"She said her mother got into a fight with a strange man last night. She heard him say he was going to take away what was his."

"I'll look into any contacts the mother might have." She slapped Ryan's arm. "I'll see you later."

Quinn stepped onto the elevator, her mind spinning.


	3. Interrogation

Wiping the water from her face, Quinn stared at herself in the mirror. Ryan was right. She hadn't changed much. She still had big blue eyes, the same smile. She traced on her forehead where she had gotten stitches at the age of six when she and Ryan had tried to climb some trees. Then her phone rang, pulling her from her nostalgia.

"Harris."

"_You need to come in."_

"Why!"

"_We found a possible suspect. Horatio wants you to question him."_

Quinn sighed. "Yeah. Ok. Just give me twenty minutes."

* * *

Quinn threw the file on the table. "Mr. Callaghan… How did you know Cynthia Holden?"

"She and her husband used to come down to Tampa a lot. We got to know each other."

Quinn nodded. "Well?" she asked

"Well enough."

"Well enough for you to follow the family to Miami and crash a three year olds birthday party?"

"What are you talking about?"

Eric leaned forward. "We have witnesses that can place you at the party last night."

"We have a witness that saw you arguing with Mrs. Holden," Quinn put in.

"No, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do." Quinn flicked through the file. "Hospital security had some trouble with you when Mrs. Holden gave birth to her youngest daughter three years ago."

"I wanted to say congratulations."

Quinn was getting impatient. "Why were you at the party, Mr. Callaghan?"

"To see CeeCee."

Quinn looked at Eric, taken aback. "CeeCee? That's a kinda personal reference, isn't? An intimate nickname?" There was a knock on the one-way window behind them. "Hold tight, Mr. Callaghan."

Quinn and Eric walked out and joined Horatio, Frank, Calleigh and Ryan in the adjoining room. Eric leaned against the window. "I think he's guilty."

Quinn shook her head. "Get rid of his lover's family including his lover?"

"We're running his DNA against Sophie Holden's."

"It's gonna pop up positive. Did you see the look on his face when we brought Sophie past?"

"Well, we're about to be sure," Calleigh said, as Natalia walked in.

"Positive."

"Motive," Eric said as he slapped his hand against the wall. "Let's go." He moved to the door.

Quinn turned to Horatio. "I want to talk to him. Alone." She turned back to Eric. "I don't he's guilty." She caught Ryan's smile and smiled back quickly.

Horatio smiled. "Alright. Ten minutes."

"Mr. Callaghan, let me tell you what I know… You met Cynthia on one of her family trips. You got to know the family and you pursued and adulterous affair with her, resulting in the birth of Sophie. Three years later—" She leaned closer. "You finish the story. You tell me what happened then. The truth… And if you lie, I will know, and I can't help you."

"CeeCee told me… He used to hit her. The other night, she called me. Told me he knew Soph wasn't his. She was terrified told me to keep away." Quinn leaned away, taken aback by the man's change in behaviour. "I needed to take her away from there. I needed to take them away from there."

"What are you saying?"

"He killed them… He killed them."


	4. Case Closed

Quinn followed Frank toward the layout room, where Horatio, Calleigh, Ryan, Walter, Natalia, and Eric were expecting them. Quinn grabbed his arm before they joined the team. "Do you think he did it?"

Frank shook his head. "We're not judge and jury, Harris."

"No… But there's motive. Opportunity."

"We all need to go over every inch of the case together, Harris. We'll get to the bottom of this."

The team regrouped. "So what do we have?" Horatio asked.

Calleigh began. "Six victims, one survivor."

Frank leaned against the table. "Cynthia Holden had an affair three years ago, which resulted in the youngest 'Holden', Sophia."

"Her lover, Clark Callaghan, claims her husband beat her, which pushed her into his arms. Her husband found out about the affair three years later, Cynthia called Clark to warn him away." Quinn folded her arms.

Eric scoffed. "We have motive. Callaghan wants his daughter."

Quinn became annoyed. "There's no evidence to support it."

"There's no evidence saying opposite."

Horatio intervened. "What else do we have?"

"Bullets are from the husband's gun," Calleigh said.

"No trace, except what you'd expect to find after a party," Ryan said.

"And blood spatter is all over the place," Natalia concluded.

"We need to go back to the house," Horatio said, pulling his lab coat off.

Quinn stopped them. "Sophie… What happens to her?"

"There isn't much of Cynthia Holden's family left, we're having trouble locating them and Greg Holden's probably won't take her," Frank answered.

"So she'll go into foster care," Quinn finished.

* * *

As Eric, Quinn, Ryan and Frank piled into Frank's new car, Ryan grabbed Quinn's arm, keeping her from hitting her head off the roof. "Oh my gosh!" She came back to reality and rubbed her head. She smiled at Ryan. "Thank you."

"You ok?"

"I just have the worst migraine ever. It's fine. I'll be fine."

They drove for fifteen minutes civilly talking about the case when Delko decided to take a hit at Quinn. "What's your problem with foster car?"

"What does that have anything to do with anything?"

"I'm just trying to get to know you better."

"Ok. When my mother was nine, my grandparents died in a car accident. There was no will, no guardianship, no godparents. So my mother went into foster care because my uncle Jimmy just started college. A week after being in foster care, Jimmy met up with my mom, took a look at her bruises, dropped out of college, worked in a bar while my mom was in school and was a dad to her… Oh…" She turned back in the car, her face pale. "…my father died when I was six, my mother is manic depressive and I have two younger brothers. Anything else?"

"Yeah," Ryan piped up. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine." She turned forward in her seat.

"Not all foster homes are like that," Delko said.

"Most are."

"You know, as much as I hate to admit this, Ryan's right. You don't look great," Frank said as he slowed down.

"I'm fine. I gave blood this morning before the briefing."

"Ok…" Frank pulled into a stop outside a store. "What do you want?"

"I'm fine."

"I'm not… I'm getting lunch for myself, and so help me god if you say you don't want anything and then ask for some of mine."

"A coffee, a yoghurt and a roll: hot chicken, cheese and onion."

"I'll be back in a minute."

No one made a sound in the car. Ryan sighed deeply. "Wow, this seat is uncomfortable." He fidgeted with his hands. "I think Frank's sweet on you."

"Yeah, he's a sweetheart. Showing me the ropes, looking out for me."

"Right, I wouldn't go so far as calling him that." Quinn smiled.

* * *

Quinn was just finishing up her roll when they arrived at the house. "I'm just going to finish this…" She held up her Yoghurt. "…and I'll be right up."

"You ok?" Frank asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll wait…" Ryan offered. "We'll be up in a minute."

Quinn smiled at Ryan. "You don't have to wait."

"I want to."

"Sorry about yesterday."

"Forget it." Quinn nodded. "How's Jimmy?"

"Good, really good."

"You're staying with him?"

"Yeah, until I can find my own place. Above the corner-store. You come by sometime."

"Definitely."

"Get discount."

"Or overcharged, depending on how he's feeling."

Quinn laughed. "Y'know, I think I'm going to bake when I get home. White-chocolate, lemon brownies."

"That sounds really, really good."

Quinn threw the empty carton and spoon into her car, finished her coffee and threw the cup into the car. They made their way into the house. "Probably be terrible. Everytime I had home ec, I either ditched and went off with you, Matthew and Justin, or just stayed home."

"How did you pass?"

"Ugh, it's a miracle I got into college."

They climbed the stairs and walked into the master bedroom. "Feeling better?" Frank asked.

"Much. That diet yoghurt was amazing! Insulting but amazing."

Frank smiled at her.

"Ok," Horatio began, "where do we begin?"

"I have a theory," Quinn said.

"Oh, great," Delko said.

"Ok, Cynthia had an affair, the husband knew about it the whole time. That's why there are no pictures of Sophie. He never considered her family. Callaghan comes into the picture and when the family are alone after the party, Holden goes off on one with the family, he kills _his _family. Sophie isn't part of that, so she survives."

"Ok," Natalia began, "that's a valid theory, but why kill Cynthia. She betrayed him."

"He loved her, all this time. He knew Sophie wasn't his, there was a pre-nup. He could have divorced her. But he didn't. He took action when he felt his family was being threatened."

Calleigh shook her head. "But he used to beat her."

"There's no proof."

"Callaghan said—" Delko began.

"Callaghan said he's innocent… Look, Cynthia told him that her husband beat her to ease his guilt of the affair." She turned to Horatio. "It was his gun: How could Callaghan have known where it was?"

"Cynthia could have told him."

"But why kill her if he loved her?"

"Cause he found out she was lying?" Walter suggested. "He couldn't trust her. She turns him in, all Holden's money goes to Cynthia."

"We need more evidence," Ryan said.

The team was quiet for a second. Finally, Ryan spoke up. "She could be right."

"Siding with the newbie, Wolfe?" Delko asked.

"Delko." Ryan shook his head.

"I know…"

Quinn was more surprised than anyone to hear Horatio say this. "What?"

"You could very easily be right."

"Ok, we just need to find more evidence."

"There is none," Calleigh said. "We've been over this place so many times I've lost count and clean-up didn't find anything else."

"We have all the evidence," Horatio said.

Quinn nodded. "And it's pointing to the wrong man."

* * *

Quinn stood at the door of PD. In front of her, they were taking Clark Callaghan into a squad car.

"Ms. Harris?" Quinn turned around and faced Horatio, holding onto Sophie Holden's hand. "I think there's someone she needs to meet."

Quinn picked up Sophie and rushed to the squad car. "Officer." She reached them. "Take off the cuffs."

"Sophie. This is Clark. He's a friend of your mom's." She put her down and Clark bent down, brushing a hair from her face.

"Hey Sophie." He looked up at Quinn.

"When she gets older, she'll know. She might not understand but she'll hear about what happened. She'll figure it out. She might forgive. She might resent you. She will want to see you. You both know where I am if either one of you need me."

Clark tried to blink back the tears unsuccessfully. "It was nice to finally meet you Sophie. You look just like your mother."

Moments after Clark was driven away in the squad car, Sophie left the PD with her foster parents.

"An innocent man is in jail." Quinn looked at Horatio. "Where's the justice?"

"You can't win them all. Innocent or guilty we'll never really know."

"Thank you. For agreeing with me back at the house. I know it's what you believed, but thank you." She walked away before he could say anything else.

* * *

She threw her keys on the kitchen table and walked onto the balcony where her uncle, Jimmy was hunched over on a lounger.

"Hey," Quinn greeted, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"How was your day?"

"Crap," she said, stretching out on a lounger. "Yours?"

Jimmy looked up briefly. He held the cigarette out to her. "You need this more than I do."

"I really shouldn't," she said, already taking the cigarette. She watched as Jimmy pulled out another one.

She started biting her nails. "Stop that. It's unattractive."

Quinn scoffed. "I ran into Ryan today."

"I thought you might." Quinn stared at him. "I was talking to Liam the other day. I mentioned you were working at MDPD, he mentioned Ryan was, we went onto another subject."

"Thanks for telling me."

"You two hadn't spoken in ten years."

"We email each other."

"Speak, Quinn, old school, face to face, not s-t-s." Quinn mouthed the last part confused. "Screen to screen, sweetie."

"Oh." Quinn took another puff.

"Strange considering me, your mom, and Ryan's parents were already planning your wedding."

"Things changed… We changed after high school."

"No… Things changed before college."

Quinn decided to change the subject. She took a quick puff of her cigarette. "What's all this?" She pointed to the papers in front of Jimmy. She craned her neck to get a better look. "Are you opening a bar?"

"Wishful thinking." Jimmy smiled.

Quinn stubbed out her cigarette. "I'm going to go to bed. Don't stay up too late." She put an arm around his neck, squeezed, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Night, Quinny."

* * *

Quinn fell down on her bed, not bothering to get changed and fell asleep.


	5. Dinner

It took Quinn half an hour to wake up fully. She turned around to face Ryan and smiled sleepily. "Morning," he groaned.

"Hi." She sat up and stretched.

"Wait till I tell Delko and Walter that I went to bed with a very pretty lady last night."

Quinn laughed. "Ryan, nothing happened."

"They don't need to know that." Quinn shook her head.

_

* * *

Day before_

Quinn sat at her desk with her feet on her desk the Ryan, Walter, Delko, and Horatio surrounding her. "Wow, three days, that's a record."

Walter frowned. "For what?"

"No coffee."

Ryan sat on the corner of her desk. "You kicked cigarettes, you're kicking coffee. You're like a superwoman."

"I prefer the term 'batwoman' and I've been substituting coffee with energy drinks."

"Not very super." Quinn scowled at Delko. "How long more do we have to wait?"

As if on cue, the printer shot out a sheet of paper with a woman's criminal record. Quinn looked through it. "Hm…"

"What?"

"Nothing… She goes from arson as a minor to theft as an adult. That's a serious de-escalation." She looked up at Horatio. "Does it give you what you need?"

"It certainly gives us something to work with."

She handed him the sheet. "I feel like Oracle."

"Hey, Quinn." Ryan was waving at someone. Quinn stood up to see who it was. A tall, lanky man was standing next to a police officer. She beckoned him over.

"Matthew!" She hugged the man tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on my way to Jimmy's, thought I'd see if you were busy later." Matt looked past his sister's shoulder and frowned. "Hey, Ryan…"

"Hey, how've you been?"

"Good… thought you were dead or arrested…"

"Good to see you too."

"Just haven't seen you in a while."

Quinn grabbed Matt's arm. "I have time to walk you to your car."

Quinn squinted in the Miami sunlight, wishing she'd brought her shades with her. "How's mom?"

"She's doing good. Justin's taking care of her, while I'm down here."

"What are you doing here?"

"Jimmy wants a favour."

"What favour?"

"He wouldn't say."

"Oh, Jesus, as long as it's not illegal." Quinn leaned against the open door of the Mustang. "Thanks for bringing her down here. I've missed you." She pressed her head against the door. "I better get back. Tell Jim, you, me, him and Ryan have a dinner date tonight."

"Oh, he'll enjoy that."

"Oh come on, you and Jimmy against Ryan, it's always amusing."

"I'll see you later Quinn." He hugged his sister quickly and got in the car.

* * *

"Hello," Quinn said as they walked into the apartment. No response. She looked at Ryan, who frowned.

"We brought Indian." Matthew stood up and walked over to them

"Hey guys."

"We didn't know what to get so we just kinda went crazy."

They stayed up until late. Jimmy and Matthew went to bed early leaving Ryan and Quinn alone.

"Whoa," Quinn stopped wiping the plate. "I'm getting very strange déjà vu."

"Ah, to be young again."

Quinn laughed. "I've missed this. So have I. Will you finish up here and I'll get us ready for the movie?"

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

They fell asleep well after the movie finished.

_

* * *

Present_

Quinn fell back and rested on Ryan's stomach. "Breakfast?"

"Yeah." They walked into the kitchen.

"Well, well, well, look who stayed the night," Jimmy said slyly.

Ryan walked up to him and fixed his tie. "Look at you. Look at this tie. You're gorgeous. Gorgeous."

Quinn and Matthew looked at each other and smiled.

"Where you going?" Quinn asked.

"Bank. I'm going to try and get a loan."

"Is it the shop?" Quinn asked.

"No. Remember last week, my wishful thinking?"

"Yeah."

"Figured it was time to do something about it."

"You're going to open a bar!"

"Great another bar in Miami," Ryan said, "just what we need." Quinn slapped his arm. "Ouch." Ryan sat down and ate his breakfast.

"You'll be fine."

"I was helping him with his appeal last night. I'm going to be running the shop," Matthew said proudly.

"Oh, hang on." Quinn ran back into her room to grab her ringing phone. "Frank."

"You know if you need anyone to alcohol test for you." Ryan pointed to himself.

"Great that's just what Miami needs, you drunk," Matthew mimicked.

"I've actually missed you… What's up?"

Quinn came back out of her room, fully dressed, her eyes watering. Ryan intercepted her. "Sophie Holden's dead."

She rummaged through her bag took out a twenty dollar note and handed it to Jimmy. "What's this for?"

"Cigarettes."


	6. Trust Issues

Quinn stared into the interrogation room where Clark Callaghan was sitting, looking very confused. "How do I tell him?"

"I can if you'd prefer." Horatio was standing next to her.

"No. It's needs to be me."

She walked into the interrogation room. "What's going on? The guards said you wanted to see me. Am I free?"

Quinn shook her head. "Mr. Callaghan, I'm afraid I have some bad news… Sophie died."

"No." He started crying. "How?"

"Her foster father… He… he hit her really, really hard last night… He went to wake her up this morning and he found her dead."

"No…" Callaghan collapsed into a heap on the floor, screaming. Quinn backed into a corner shaking and burst past Horatio when he walked in with a guard.

* * *

Horatio found her outside with a cigarette in her hand sitting against the wheel of the hummer forty five minute late. She took a drag of her cigarette. "I'm sorry. I've just never done that before."

"That's alright." He sat down next to her.

"I started this pack today." She took another drag. "Five years…"

"How many do you have left?"

"Two." She offered him one. He shook his head. She stubbed out her one. "We better get back."

* * *

The drive back from county was painful, no one saying anything.

They reached the heart of the city. Quinn looked up when she had finished crying silently for the little girl and the father she'd made a promise to. "I want to apologise…"

"For what?"

"When you joined the team… I wasn't exactly very warm to you…"

"That's ok."

"I just had to know you were good at what you do… that I could trust you."

"It's ok… I have trust issues too…" She wiped her sunglasses and put them back on. "I'm sorry I haven't been much company."

"Not to worry. Today hasn't been a great day. I do get the feeling that if Mr. Wolfe were here the journey would have gone a bit faster. For your sake."

Quinn smiled. "I don't know what it is… He knows exactly what buttons to press."

Horatio smiled. "How long have you two known each other?"

"He's a few months older than me… He was in August, I was December. Other than those few months we grew up together. My uncle and his dad were best friends. We were both a bit strange: Ryan had his OCD, and when I was six I started helping Jimmy take care of my mom and brothers, so we were both independent at a young age. We were best friends."

"What happened?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You said were. What changed?"

Quinn hesitated. "We just went our separate ways…"

"Something must have happened?"

"Life, I guess… He went into the academy here and I went to college there."

"How long ago was that?"

"Ten years."

"It just seems strange… You two grow up together, lose contact for ten years and now you're as close as ever."

* * *

Quinn looked him before answering. "You talk about trust issues… If you want to know something just ask me." Horatio killed the engine and looked at Quinn. She looked out the window: they were at the PD. She got out of the car without saying anything.

Quinn walked over to Ryan. "Hey you."

"Hey. How'd you get on?"

"It was awful."

He rubbed her back. "Sorry." They talked for a while and finally Ryan made her laugh. She thought about what Horatio said and stopped. "What's wrong?"

"I just… It's so weird."

"What?"

"One event can cause so much change."

"I know… I mean if you hadn't come here, we probably would never have seen each other again and—"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about… How much we've changed. What are you talking about?"

Quinn bit her lip. "Alaska."

"Ooo, you've been Alaska?" Quinn turned around and faced Calleigh and Natalia.

"I think we're interrupting something," Natalia said apologetically.

"Yeah… moments gone." Quinn shrugged her jacket on and turned to Ryan. "We've haven't changed."

"What were you on about Alaska for?" he asked quietly.


	7. Bad News

"Hello, gentlemen." Quinn walked up to the counter, ordered a coffee and stood at the table where Horatio, Eric, Walter, and Ryan sat.

"Hey, Quinn, did you get the info on the suspect?" Walter asked.

Quinn slammed her hand down on the table. "Dammit, Walter, I'm a Doctor not a miracle worker—" She cleared her throat, smiled. "Sorry… Yes, I gave it to Natalia and Calleigh."

"Thanks."

Ryan smiled. "What was with the Dr. McCoy moment?"

Quinn stretched , revealing her midriff, as the waitress came over and handed her her coffee. Quinn thanked her. "I spent the weekend watching Star Trek with Justin and Matthew." Quinn took a sip of her coffee. "You're forewarned, there will be a lot of 'Scotty', 'McCoy', 'Kirk', and 'Spock'."

"You went home for the weekend?"

"Hell, no. Jimmy went up so the boys could come down here."

"That explains a lot."

"Anyway, if Tripp is overly irritable it's because I keep calling him Scotty."

"Tripp overly irritable?" Walter asked. "No, never!"

Quinn smiled. "Bye."

"Wow… I have never seen such blatant flirting in all my life," Delko laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Ryan asked.

"You and Harris… It's… embarrassing."

"You're so wrong, man. She's my best friend, we go way back."

"A lot can change in ten years," Horatio observed.

Ryan hesitated. "What do you know?"

"Just that you two lost contact for a bit."

Ryan frowned, wondering how much Quinn told him

* * *

"You know, you've really settled into things this last month," Calleigh observed as she sat down across from Quinn in the interrogation room.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I know it can be tough, but give it time… Eric will soften."

"I couldn't care less what Eric thinks of me."

"Ok… But it won't last." Calleigh stood up. "Are you coming out for drinks?"

Quinn checked her watch. She told her mother she was going to call her. But even Jimmy had said that she needed a chill out period. "Yes."

"Great. First night out means newbie gets first round."

"Ok, I'll play."

* * *

Quinn checked her cell phone on the way to work. No messages from her mother. "Hi, mom. Just wanted to say sorry for not ringing last night. I went out with some people from work. Anyway. I'll try again later. Love you." She pulled into the car park and met Frank. "Hey. What's on the agenda for today?"

"Today you're closing the case. I got a call out."

"Ok," she said as she took all the paperwork from Frank. "So you do all the legwork and I take the credit?"

"Just this once."

* * *

"You're back early." Quinn was just finishing the paperwork on the case when Frank came back.

"Well, when the woman won't press charges, there's not much I can do."

"So, who made the call?"

"Neighbour… Why do women do that?"

"What?"

"They won't press charges if they're assaulted." Quinn stared at the sheet. "Harris?"

"Hm… I dunno, fear?" She handed him the sheet to sign and reached for her ringing phone.

"Harris."

"_Quinn."_

"Jimmy?"

He sounded hoarse. _"You need to come home."_

"What is it? What's happened?"

"_It's you mom… Quinn, you need to…"_

Jimmy didn't finish the sentence. Instead, Quinn heard something she never thought could happen: Jimmy crying.


	8. The Funeral

Walter walked into the breakroom. "I swear to god, Tom gets weirder and weirder with every week."

Ryan smiled and stirred his coffee. "Yeah… I try to just keep away from him." Ryan dug into his pocket for his phone and answered it. "This is Wolfe."

"_Hi_ _Ryan."_

"Dad? Is everything alright? Why are you ringing my work number?"

"_Liz Harris is dead."_

Ryan froze and swallowed the lump that was preventing him from breathing. "How?"

"_She slit her wrists… Matthew was leaving for college, went to check on her and just… Found her." _

Ryan knew that his dad was trying to keep it together. "Does Jimmy know?"

"_I called him and Justin… Matthew's in a really bad state. The paramedics had to give him a sedative… He spent so long looking after her when Quinn left. He blames himself, poor boy."_

"Ok… I, ah… I'll take care of everything down here."

"_Just take care of Quinn. Jimmy can handle himself."_

"Bye dad." Ryan bit down on his thumb as he disconnected the call.

"Everything ok?" Calleigh asked.

"Quinn's mom died last night."

"Oh god… Uh, I just saw her heading towards Horatio's office."

Ryan winked at her. "Thanks, Calleigh."

* * *

When Ryan came into view of the office, Horatio beckoned him in. "I'm going to let Mr. Wolfe take you home." Quinn nodded.

Ryan walked into the office. "My dad just called, Quinn. I'm so sorry." Quinn didn't say anything. She just met Ryan as he walked up to her and pulled her into him. She knew there'd be plenty of time to tell him what was going on in her head. "Go grab your stuff. I'll meet you outside."

"Ok, yeah." Quinn cleared her throat. It was then that Ryan realised she hadn't been crying. "Thank you, Horatio."

"She hasn't cried yet? She's the most emotional person I know."

"It takes a while to process that information. Take as much time as you need. Both of you."

Ryan nodded. "Her uncle will probably deal with the arrangements, but I should go up to Boston with her today. She and her brother's will need that."

"Will you let me know when the funeral is?"

"I don't think she expects anyone to come."

"She's one of us now. We'll pay our respects."

* * *

Dinner was eaten in silence. Jimmy and Liam Wolfe had gone out after coming back from making arrangements, Quinn, Ryan and Julia Wolfe made meaningless small talk for a total of ten minutes and Matthew and Justin said nothing, and barely ate.

"How's work?" Julia asked.

"Fine. Considering what we do," Ryan answered.

"I'm sorry, Julia," Quinn said, pushing her plate away. "We just don't have much appetite."

She took Quinn's hand. "I understand." She stood up, picking up the almost untouched plates. Quinn followed her into the kitchen. "It's alright I can do this. Ryan can help me. You should spend time with your brothers. Quinn… There's plenty of room here. Maybe it would be a good idea for you and the boys to stay here tonight. Just to be out of that house."

"Ya. I think I'll take you up on that offer."

She grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter and turned to walk away. "He's worried."

"Who?" She turned back to Julia.

"Ryan. He hasn't seen you cry yet."

"Honestly. I don't know why I haven't. Matthew and Justin have. I don't know why I can't." She looked back out into the dining room. "When Ryan comes down, can you tell him I've just gone to get some stuff."

Julia nodded.

* * *

Quinn picked up a stuffed teddy bear and held it to her. "You know," Ryan said from behind her. "When we were kids and we used to hang out up here, it never occurred to me that I was in a girl's room."

Quinn smiled and sat on the bed. Ryan sat beside her. "Was I selfish?"

"What do you mean?"

"I left home to go to college. Matthew and Justin stayed here. Community College. Matt is five years younger than me and graduated from high school with me. How did I get out and he was stuck here dealing with a manic depressive mother."

"It was what he wanted to do."

"That's wrong. He should have gone to Yale, Harvard, Brown. He could have."

"You had to get out. You couldn't stay. It was killing you. You had to leave, put everything that happened into the past."

Quinn rested her head on his shoulder and held his hand. "I don't think I deserve to cry. I don't feel like I have that right. Your mom told me you were worrying. I barely saw her since I left. I was supposed call her last night. Instead I went out for drinks. My baby brother blames himself for what happened. What if I'm the reason the picture of our mother's slit wrists is embedded in his memory forever?"

"You're not. Quinn, all she wanted for her children was for them to be happy. She resented the fact that Matt and Justin stayed here. She was so proud of you for getting away. You know that."

Finally Quinn started to cry.

* * *

The funeral was a week later. Quinn had become robotic: Jimmy dealt with the funeral arrangements, but she took the condolences from people. When there was a break from people coming into the house, Ryan made her smile, just for a minute, but it lightened the load from her shoulders.

She was surprised when she saw the next set of faces: Horatio, Calleigh, Frank and Delko. Ryan had warned her Horatio might come, and Frank was her partner, but she didn't expect Calleigh, and certainly not Eric.

"How are you holding up?" Calleigh asked a surprised Quinn, as she hugged her.

"Ok."

"Do you need anything?"

Quinn sighed. "A drink."

Ryan frowned. "How are you not paralytic?" Quinn leaned in and rested her head against Ryan.

"You look like hell, Harris." A week ago, Quinn would have taken the head off Delko for that, but the softness in his face told her he meant it out of sympathy.

"You should see how I feel."

* * *

When the flow ebbed and Quinn's brother, Justin, offered to take over, Quinn moved out to the back porch, sitting with Lucy, Ryan's sister, passing an hour by smoking a cigarette. She walked back in. There weren't many people left: some distant family, neighbours, friends. She spotted Ryan and Liam sitting with Horatio, Frank, Calleigh and Eric and decided that would be the easiest group to ease into.

"So which embarrassing story are we onto now? The one where Ryan hit his head when he tried to do a handstand, or when he got his leg caught in a tree or…"

"Actually, we're onto the one where we watched Titanic and you passed out from crying."

Quinn looked at the team. "That didn't happen." She scowled at Ryan and turned to Liam. "Where is everyone?"

"Jimmy's gone for a lie down, Justin's gone for a walk and Matthew's outside playing with the kids."

Quinn wrapped an arm around his neck and squeezed affectionately. While Jimmy was busy being a father to her, Liam had become her uncle. "Thank you, for helping with everything."

"We should head off, soon," Horatio said.

"No, don't."

"We have to get back to Miami early tomorrow. I left Walter and Natalia in charge." Horatio hugged her. "Take as much time as you need off." He turned to Ryan. "Both of you."

Someone came up behind them. "Quinn." Impulsively, she spun around and Ryan's arm wrapped around her waist. Liam stood up. "Quinn, I'm so sorry for your loss." He took a step closer to Quinn but Ryan cut him off, standing in front of him.

"Stay away from her-"

"Ryan." Ryan spun around. His father was shaking his head.

"Is there a problem?" Frank asked.

Quinn shook her head, and swallowed hard, her breathing fast. "Liam," she croaked

"Rob, let's have a chat." Liam led Rob outside.

Ryan turned around to Quinn. "Are you—"

"I'm fine." She passed him out and went upstairs, screaming into a pillow.


	9. Revelations

Over the next few weeks, Quinn became a lot closer to the remaining members of the team, especially Calleigh. They seemed to form a type of bond after the funeral. Everything that had been done for her since her mother's death and the thing she appreciated most was Calleigh's kindness to her.

"Can I ask you a question?"Calleigh asked as they walked off the elevators.

"Sure."

"What's going on between you and Ryan?"

Quinn frowned as they headed to the breakroom. "How do you mean?"

"You two just seem so right for each other."

Quinn stared at Calleigh in disbelief. Many people had said something about her and Ryan all their lives, but as jokes. Calleigh was deadly serious.

"You seem like you'd make a really good couple. Haven't you ever considered it?"

She hadn't. Being honest Quinn never really had a boyfriend. There had been a date here and a hook up there, but nothing that lasted more than a week. She wondered if she should be considering settling down. She shook her head.

"No, Cal, no. Ryan is my best friend. I love him, but no…"

* * *

That night, Quinn tried to focus on what Ryan was saying, but what Calleigh had said earlier kept coming back to her _"You'd make a really good couple." _Quinn didn't know exactly why, but when she invited Ryan over to watch a movie, she felt scared.

Ryan looked over as the end credits began to roll on the movie, head resting in hand. "So when are the Jimmy and the guys coming home?"

"Uh, next week." Quinn's family had gone up to Boston for a week to sort out selling the house.

"When's the club gonna open?"

"Um, in a few weeks… There's just a few little things to take care of."

Ryan lifted his head from his hands and faced Quinn fully. "Is everything ok?" Quinn shrugged. "You can talk to me about anything."

"Can I?" Quinn had said it before she could stop herself.

"I didn't think I ever gave you reason to doubt that. Do we need to talk about something?"

There was a knock on the door. "No, forget I said anything." Quinn stood up and stretched and walked towards the door.

"No. Have I done something?" Ryan asked, following her.

"No." Quinn looked through the peephole. "It's your dad." She opened the door. "Whoa!" She stepped back as Liam, Frank and Horatio walked into the apartment.

"Dad?" Ryan glanced at Quinn. He looked at Horatio, then to his father. "What's going on?"

"Rob Collins was nearly killed last week, he woke up from a coma this morning, under the impression that one of you two had something to do with it. My colleague is coming down here tomorrow to question you and depending on how you're alibis are, one or both of you could be going to prison."

"What's he saying, Dad?"

"Where were you two last Thursday?"

"Delko's. We were playing cards on Thursday. Me, Delko, Frank and Walter."

Liam spun to Quinn. "What about you?"

Quinn hesitated. "I was at home. With Jimmy, Justin and Matthew."

"That isn't good enough. You were with them, do you understand me?"

"I didn't do anything wrong."

"It doesn't matter."

"What is he saying?" Ryan asked, his voice rising.

"What he did, he's saying you did it. That you have her—" He pointed at Quinn. "-living in fear. That you have this… hold over her."

Quinn was shaking her head vigorously. "He's lying. Ryan wouldn't. He's lying!"

"Jesus, Quinn. I know he's lying; you know he's lying; Ryan knows he's lying and he knows he's lying, but that doesn't matter. The only people that know exactly what happened in Alaska are you two and him. "

"I think we've co-operated as well as we can, but if you want our help, we need more information," Frank said.

Quinn and Ryan looked at each other, Quinn biting her bottom lip. "He… Rob, he raped me."

Ryan shook his head. "He didn't just rape her. He nearly killed her."

* * *

They were sitting around the kitchen table. "It was spring break of senior year. Ryan, Rob, another girl and I went to Alaska. We were going to spend the whole week there. Third day in, Ryan and I agreed to meet. I got there early and Rob was there. We talked and then he came onto me. I pushed him away. He overpowered me. Pushed me up against a tree and started to rape me. I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't do anything. All I could feel was the bark of the tree, peeling skin away from my back." Quinn stood up and lifted the back of her shirt revealing a large scar on her back. "I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I thought I was going to die. And then Ryan came. He pulled Rob off of me, started to beat, until he saw me bleeding… I was in hospital for two weeks. We told Liam so he could cover for us. We kept up the charade until graduation. But our relationship was strained after that and we drifted apart. Until now." She looked down. She didn't remember reaching over to wind her fingers between Ryan's but she wasn't surprised.

"Why didn't you tell your uncle?" Frank asked.

"Because if we told Jimmy, Rob would have been dead a long time ago."

There was silence in the room until Ryan's hoarse voice broke it. "What happens now?"

Liam put an arm around Quinn. "I know it's hard, but this conversation never happened."

"Dad—"

Horatio stood up. "He's right. If anyone suspects we had this conversation, both your alibis will come under speculation, what happened ten years ago will be found out."

"Rob's probably said that you'll say it."

"What if they question Jimmy, Justin and Matt?" Quinn asked.

"I doubt it'll come to that."

Ryan walked them to the front door. He turned around as he closed the door. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine." She turned around and walked into her room.

Ryan followed her and sat beside her. "You don't always have to be brave you know?"

"Do you like me?"

"What are you talking about? I love you." Ryan smiled.

Realising she didn't quite know how to approach the subject, Quinn just smiled. "Can you stay here tonight?"

Ryan kissed her on the temple. "Of course."


	10. Sorted

When Quinn woke up in the morning, Ryan was still lying there next to her, arm draped across her waist. Quinn turned and stared at him. Of course there were aspects of Ryan that were attractive, but did she really feel attracted to him. She placed a hand on him and felt exactly what she'd felt all her life: platonic love for Ryan. His eyes shot open. "Morning," she greeted. He looked over at her, dazed and sat up. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Ryan—"

"Um, I'll make some coffee."

She followed him into the kitchen. "Tell me what's wrong?" He didn't say anything. "Please!"

"Nothing's wrong," he said, turning to her and smiling. "Are you, uh… You ready for today?"

"Yeah… As long as they don't ask anything too…" Quinn looked up at Ryan. "Ryan?" His head snapped up. "Are you paying any attention to me?"

He poured out two cups of coffee. "Of course I am. I'm going to go… see dad before work." Ryan walked over to Quinn and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later."

Quinn picked up her coffee and drank it, realising that he never had his coffee.

* * *

When Ryan walked into the break-room Calleigh, Natalia and Deko were sitting on the sofa.

"You're late, Wolfe," Delko said smugly.

"Thank you for pointing that out, Delko. There was something I had to take care of."

"Quinn came in here about ten minutes ago, looking for you," Natalia said, raising her cup to her lips.

"Yeah, she's in a … meeting. I'll catch up with her later." Ryan poured the last of the coffee into a mug.

"Yeah. What's all that about?" Natalia asked.

"Her business."

"What's in the file?" Calleigh asked.

"Just something I'm looking into." And he walked off without another word.

* * *

Quinn sat uncomfortably while Horatio and Detective Davies looked at her. She followed Ryan with her eyes as he walked past, wondering what had been wrong with him that morning..

Davies led the investigation. "Harris, when was the last time you saw Rob Collins?"

"My mother's funeral."

"And I believe you got upset with him, is that correct?"

"I wanted him out of my mother's house. Yes, I was upset with him. Why don't you just ask me what you're really thinking?"

"Did you attack him?"

"No."

"Did you have him attacked?"

"No. And none of my family would have attacked him. Believe me, if they had, he wouldn't still be alive. Same goes for me. And the same goes for Ryan." She stood up and stared directly at him.

* * *

Quinn met Jimmy outside and followed him to the café across the street while Davies and Horatio looked for Ryan.

"I can't believe Paul Davies thinks me or Jimmy or my brothers or Ryan are capable of murder. I mean, he does know that, right?"

"Of course he knows… Me, Jimmy and Paul grew up together. We know each other inside out. He's doing his job."

"I guess I should feel lucky that it's him and not someone who would hang me out to dry."

"I suppose I have a part to play. I was the one that reminded him of our youth."

"Thank you, Liam." Quinn took a sip of coffee. "What's wrong with Ryan?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's like… It's like it was after Alaska. When he just… He abandoned me when I needed him."

"Do you think he wanted to?" Quinn jumped at the sudden aggression in Liam's voice.

"He didn't have to walk away… We could have gotten through it. We were best friends, we were—"

"You were a lot more than that." Liam scratched his head and leaned towards Quinn. "Ryan loved you."

"I loved him too."

Liam smiled. "Ryan was in love with you. He still is."

Quinn shook her head. "So that's why for weeks, whenever I saw him, he made feel like dirt? That's why he thought I was dirt?"

Liam slammed down his hand onto the table. "Ryan never thought of you as dirt. Do you have any idea how difficult it was for him to watch you get raped? He felt like a failure. Like it was his fault that it happened."

"I needed him."

"And he didn't know what to do."

"You know what, Liam?" She stood up. "Fuck you."

* * *

Ryan sat in the interrogation room, facing Horatio and Paul Davies. He was getting bizarre flashbacks of sitting here with Stetler questioning him. _Funny how history repeats itself…_

"How've you been Paul?" he asked

"Good, Wolfe. Ryan I need to know if you had anything to do with what happened to Rob Collins."

Ryan smiled and leaned forward. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Your dad told me everything. Quinn's adamant that neither of you had anything to do with it-

"No. I mean… Why are you asking when you know what happened?"

"What are you talking about?"

"We both know that Jimmy knows about what happened to Quinn… ever since the funeral."

"So Jimmy did this?"

"I don't know. Who was it that killed John Patricks?" Ryan saw Davies face fall and knew he was getting to him. He held up the file that was in his hand.

"How did you—"

"You've forgotten who my dad is. And I will do anything to project the people I care about." He slid the file over to Davies. "You and Jimmy are both named in the file. I made sure there was no connection to my dad."

Davies shook his head. "Well, there's no denying it. You are definitely Liam's kid. But Jimmy left his mark too." Davies picked up the file and flicked through it, sliding it back over to Ryan when he was done.

While Davies took out his cell phone, Horatio moved over to Ryan. "Do you want to explain-?"

"No. It's complicated." He looked up at Horatio. "Me and Quinn are in the clear. That's all that matters."

Davies turned back to Ryan and Horatio. "Well, we'll be out of your hair in about an hour."

Ryan leaned back and folded his arms. "Can I go now?"

Davies folded his arms and, surprisingly, smiled. "Yeah… go."

* * *

Ryan went outside in time to meet his father. "How'd the interview go?" he asked, putting an arm around Ryan.

"Me and Quinn are good." Ryan stopped and turned to face his father. "Dad, I know… I know Jimmy killed the sex offender. I know you did everything you could to protect him. Even sending him to jail."

Liam rubbed his temples. "Ryan…"

"Dad, you don't need to explain. Just… did you know… what he did? To Rob?"

Liam nodded. "Ryan… Quinn's family. Seeing what this did to her… I couldn't let him get away with it." Liam turned to see Quinn coming and turned back to Ryan. "Don't judge… you've done worse. I know you have." He winked at Ryan and walked away.

Quinn walked up to him. "How'd it go?"

"It went fine. The investigation into us is dropped." Ryan smiled. All Quinn could thin k to do was throw her arms around him.

"I don't know what you did. But thank you," she said into his neck. When she pulled away, her cheeks were red and her eyes were glassy. "Are we ok?"

"Why wouldn't we be?"

"This morning… I just thought… you were mad at me?"

Ryan laughed and kissed her on the cheek. "I could never be mad at you." He put his arm around her and walked her into P.D. "Do you want to grab something after work?"

"Yeah." Quinn turned to face him. "Thank you."


	11. Taking Chances

Ryan sat back, relaxed, and took a sip of red wine. Quinn sat down next to him. "Ryan, I don't know what you did, but thank you. I love you so much for whatever it was." She smiled at him.

Ryan smiled back. "I turned on my irresistible charm."

Quinn slapped his arm. "Stop it." She rubbed her palms against her knees, preparing herself. "Your dad said something to me today."

Ryan set his glass down on the coffee table. "What did he say?"

Quinn laughed. "You love me?"

"Of course I do, you know I do."

"No… As in… 'in love with me'."

Ryan's eyes grew wide. "That's…"

"I'd get it. We've been through a lot together."

Ryan fidgeted with his hands. "Of course I do. And it has nothing to do with Alaska. I've loved you since we were kids and… I don't know." Ryan looked at Quinn in the eye. "I guess I never really realised it until you were gone and you came back and I—" Ryan broke off when the front door opened. Quinn spun her head around and shot an angry look at her brother, Matt.

"Sorry…" he said meekly. "Did I interrupt something?"

"Yes!" Quinn said.

Ryan smiled. "No." He looked down at Quinn. "We'll talk later."

* * *

He was already at the elevator when Quinn caught up to him. "I'm scared. Of losing everything. I get mad at everyone who says we'd be good together 'cause if we take that chance I could lose my best friend. I can't lose you again."

"You won't." He took her hands. "Quinn, I always knew I'd see you again."

Quinn sighed. "What are you doing?"

"What?" Ryan frowned.

"This understanding crap? Either be firm with me and tell me that we're taking the chance, or tell me everything that you just said was a joke: that you do love me but only as a friend."

Ryan smiled, closed the distance between Quinn and the wall, and, seeing the smile play on Quinn's lips, closed the distance between him and her.

* * *

When she was a kid, Quinn always wondered what it would be like to kiss Ryan. And now she knew. Not only that, but she had also wondered what it would be like to have Ryan's body next to hers. She giggled as Ryan moved next to her, his hand grazing her bare thigh. She pushed closer to his body as he traced her jawline with his nose until he got to her lips. "Was that firm enough for you?"

Quinn laughed. "I don't know. It could have been a bit firmer." She kissed him, remembering the awkward silence in the car as he drove with her back to his place, the argument they had when he insisted he couldn't make love to her just yet, not until he'd come to terms with everything that had happened between them, until he'd overcome his need to not cause her any physical pain. She remembered the look on his face when he'd finally accepted defeat and they began kissing again.

Quinn smiled as Ryan propped himself up on his elbow, rubbing her shoulder with the other hand. "Promise me something…"

"What?"

"Next time… just take me… no hesitation?"

"I can do that…" he assured as he climbed on top of her. "I think I can definitely do that."

**Please let me know what you think**


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